Despite Sorrel's words, Lisha's stomach twisted in pain as she finished drying herself off. The steam from her shower clung to the mirrors and tiles and the garbage can in the corner had two handfuls of the webbing she scraped off her body before she stopped plugging up the drain.
Without the rush of orgasms or the thrill of being naughty, she couldn't help but notice how sensitive her body was. Her nipples and pussy ached from being pleasured for hours. They were also red from the scrubbing and the hot water. She gingerly touched them but then drew back; she needed at least a few hours to let them recover before she cast the spell again.
Lisha's train of thought ended as she thought about the senior student waiting for her. That could have been the last time she cast the spell, though a small part of her knew that she had the spell memorized and there was nothing that would prevent her from using it even if she was kicked from the college.
That was a cold comfort. She loved school, having a roommate, being someone useful, and not at home. A tear ran down her cheek as she looked at the haggard image in the mirror. She couldn't remember the last time she had left the room for food, but it looked like it had been days.
She considered brushing her hair out, but she didn't have her brush. With a sigh, she ran some fingers through her hair but it was too tangled to do anything besides get the worst of the snarls.
Her stomach rumbled and her ears rang out.
She tugged on her robe and tied it shut. Her hands quivered with her emotions as she wished she had brought underwear or clothes with her, but she had rushed out of her room without thinking about anything other than Sorrel's command.
Taking a deep breath, Lisha walked out of the shower and into a cloud of cooking food. It smelled like roast chicken and warm break. Her stomach rumbled with desire and her mouth grew wet as her hunger made itself present.
Unable to resist, she turned away from her room and headed into the kitchen area. It felt like entering an executioner's chamber but it had been days since she had anything significant to eat.
Sorrel had taken off her coat and gloves. Underneath, she wore a tank top and a skirt that barely reached her knees. There was a small gap between the two to reveal a toned body underneath. Her outfit was a deep purple trimmed with silver. Her red hair was pulled up into a pony tail, a matching amethyst tie holding it place and a small butterfly clip at the end that waved back and forth as she emptied out a box of supplies into the cupboards.
On the cooking surface, a pot of soup steamed next to a glowing heating rune.
On the table in the center of the room, she had set up a pair of flatware. A loaf of bread and crock of butter sat in the middle.
Lisha wanted to run away, but her stomach rumbled again.
“With you groaning that much, you better start eating or I'll be thinking you are summoning some horrible monster. I'd hate to defend myself before you had a chance to eat.”
Lisha flinched at Sorrel's amused tone. With her cheeks hot with embarrassment, she inched forward until she reached the nearest chair and down down. The thin material of her robe did little to cushion the hard chair underneath her ass. She reached out and took up the bread, slathered it with a healthy smear of butter, and then took a bite.
It had been a while since she had eaten anything fresh. Her stomach rumbled happily as she swallowed it and then took another bite.
“I have some beef soup with chunky vegetables. You said you liked potatoes and celery, right? There are some winter onions in there too.”
Lisha was impressed that Sorrel remembered. It seemed like a tiny little detail but somehow it made her think that Sorrel had paid attention to every thing she said that night. “Y-Yes.”
Sorrel looked at her and smiled. “I'm not going to tell anyone.”
The flush grew hotter. “I-I wasn't thinking that!”
“Really?”
Lisha looked away and took another bite. “… not at this moment.”
“But you were in the shower?”
“… yes.”
“So you don't believe me? Or you thinking about me?” Sorrel's smile grew wider.
Lisha couldn't answer that.
Sorrel poured two bowls of soup before setting the pot aside. She carried both over, her heavy boots thudding on the ground as she lifted one leg and straddled the chair. Lisha got a flash of bare thighs before the older student sat down. “Well, then I'm going to keep saying it until you believe me. I'm not going to tell anyone.”
Lisha took another bite. Her stomach felt tight but she forced herself to swallow it down. “W-Why?”
Sorrel shrugged and then gestured to the wall with her chin. “You know why they tell young students not to cast spells?”
“It's dangerous?”
A snort of amusement. “Please, most of your spells are baby spells and blow apart with a little disruption. They tell you so you don't even try. Or at least, don't try until you are sure you are capable of controlling your magic. It cuts down on accidents when you think about your spell instead of thinking about what it can give you.”
Lisha pulled the soup closer. It made sense, there was a spat of accidents when the students first learned how to cast spells. The summoners took the longest before they could summon anything, but there were at least three fires and a couple ice patches before the edict was impressed on them. Lisha wasn't among them though, she had listened from the first day.
She took a bite before she asked a question. “Then how do we know when it is safe?”
Another shrug. “You just do, I guess. I mean there comes a point when it is the most natural thing to melt the snow off your boots or use a shield to keep the rain off your head. That was my forbidden first spell. Missy and I were caught in a rain storm because we took too long to get back to town and I kept us dry. She had used a spell to keep things dark so we could sneak back in before the floor mistress caught us.”
Sorrel smiled to herself and a faint color rose to her cheeks. “That was a good afternoon. We learned a lot about ourselves those days.”
Her eyes lifted to Lisha and she smiled. “So, was that summoning your first one?”
Lisha's cheeks burned. “Y-Yes.”
A pause. There was a tension in the air.
“Were you casting it before we had dinner together?”
Lisha shook her head. “No, I didn't… I wasn't….” Her voice trailed off.
“Oh? Was it after you went home?”
She didn't know why her skin was growing hot. “Y-Yes.”
Sorrel grinned and leaned forward. “Were you thinking about me when you cast it?”
Lisha whimpered as her skin almost ignited into flame. She turned away from Sorrel as she tried not to hide her face or give away her thoughts. How could Sorrel had known that she had been masturbating to stories with her before she cast the spell?
Sorrel said nothing, but that made it even worse.
Lisha peeked over but the senior student was looking down at her soup. Lisha turned back and tried not to think about the moisture that was gathering underneath her robe or the way her skin felt like it was on fire. She was close to her recent crush and the hours of fantasies and memories were welling up; it took willpower to force them down and concentrate on what was going to happen instead of the impossible scenarios.
Sorrel broke the silence after a minute. “I know pretty much every spell in your books. I've never seen that creature before. That was a novel spell. A gossamer spirit? Yours?”
Lisha started to respond but then realized that Sorrel didn't know about Penelope's involvement. She hesitated, unsure how to answer.
Sorrel grinned. She set down her soup and then laced her fingers together before resting her chin on them. “Penelope was the one who created it, huh? Missy said that Pene was talented at pushing limits and finding loopholes. She would try anything, would she?”
“Y-Yes.”
“But Missy also said you had power to burn compared to most of the other students. Pretty honest commentary since usually she just talks about how fuckable you two were.”
Lisha gasped with surprise. Missy had complemented her? After hours of tutoring, she was getting better.
Then the rest of the words sank in. With a whimper, she stared down at her soup and tried to stop her hand from shaking the spoon. She tried to take a sip but her stomach twisted.
“How long does the spell last?”
To avoid shaking, Lisha pressed her hand down on the table. She wasn't always sure when she cast the spell since she had woken up with the tentacle creature still pleasuring her. “It… um… about an hour when… she casts it.”
“And you? Longer?”
“Y-Yes.”
“How long?”
“I… I don't remember.”
“Oh,” Sorrel said with a grin. “You came so hard you passed out?”
Lisha whimpered. “I… occasionally felt asleep and then woke up while maintaining it?”
Sorrel's eyebrow rose.
“I think.”
“How many times do you remember casting it?”
It was hard to talk. Lisha tried a few times but her mouth felt like it was filled cotton. She clamped it shut as she thought back to the number of times she was sure she had thrown the spell. “Um, three times.”
“Three times in seven days?” Sorrel whistled. “That is impressive. Not even veteran combat mages can keep most summoning spells going that long.”
Lisha smiled shyly at the compliment. She nodded and took another bite of her soup, working her way as a silence stretched between them.
“Hey, Sha?”
Lisha whimpered.
“I'm not going to bite.” Sorrel sounded amused.
Trembling, Lisha looked up into the senior student's smile.
“There you go. You have such a pretty smile. You know I'm not going to tell anyone, right? No one is going to get in any trouble. I swear.”
There was something in Sorrel's eyes that brought a heated rush to Lisha's skin. It danced along her nerves before sinking between her legs.
It was lust, a hunger for something that Lisha didn't think was possible. Then she blinked and she struggled with the doubt that it was her fantasy putting lust in Sorrel's eyes instead of reality.
Lisha pressed her thighs together as the two worlds smashed together again her mind.
“What is a word you would never use in public?”
The sudden request threw Lisha. “W-What?”
“A word that would be improbable to ever escape your lips unless you wanted to say it.” Sorrel's voice was almost a purr as her intense gaze caressed Lisha's skin.
Trembling with the growing heat, Lisha didn't understand the request but she thought back. “Um… soliloquy.”
Sorrel cocked her head. “That's a good word.” Then she pushed her soup over to Lisha. “I'll get you some more bread.”
Lisha looked down to see that she had polished her own soup off and the entire loaf of bread. The questions left her dizzy and confused, but she started on the second bowl of soup.